A Promise 100 Years in the Making
by Turquoise September
Summary: Breath of the Wild Zora story spoilers! After freeing Mipha's spirit in Vah Ruta, Link leaves Zora's Domain clad in the Zora Armor, but as he looks towards the Divine Beast he suddenly remembers something about himself, Mipha, and the tradition of the armour. One shot.


**A/N: This story is set shortly after the events that transpire in the South East of Breath of the Wild's story, to avoid spoilers I will just refer to it as the Zora section, if you have completed that segment then read on. This story does not include any reference to any other segment in the game, so don't worry about endgame spoilers.**

 **This was an idea I had as soon as I completed the Zora story, and while it took me a very long time to write it down the idea never went away. To keep this in line with the game however, I made a decision to make Link silent, as if this could theoretically be one of Link's memories. He has expressions and what he says is written down, he just has no actual dialogue.**

 **I love all the Champions in the game, Mipha especially, so you can expect me to write a LOT of fics about the five of them. In fact I have about three in the works already.**

 **For now, thank you for clicking on this story and enjoy!**

" _Come back anytime Link! You are always welcome in Zora's Domain!"_

The words that the Zora Prince, Sidon, said to Link echoed throughout his mind as the blonde Hylian walked down the long path out of Zora's Domain. After saving Zora's Domain from flooding, the energetic prince insisted that Link stayed for the day to revel in their small victory over Calamity Ganon. Garbed entirely in Zora gear that he received as gifts from the water based race, Link looked around as he gazed upon his surroundings. Gone was the mist, and the intense downpour of rain, it was now replaced with a beautiful cloudless blue sky and the sun shining down upon the world, reflecting off the water down below that looked so at ease, Link was tempted to jump down and swim about.

But he knew he couldn't, he had a job to do; the fate of Hyrule rested upon his shoulders, and the more time he played around, the less time he had to save Princess Zelda from inside of Hyrule Castle. Link's priority was taking back all four Divine Beasts from Calamity Ganon's clutches, and while his journey had merely begun he had already taken back the Divine Beast, Vah Ruta.

As Link looked up into the sky he saw a big beam of red light, and as he ran over the hill to see where it was aiming at, he saw that it was directed straight at Hyrule Castle. Turning his head to the left slightly, the Hylian saw Vah Ruta standing atop of a mountain; its massive presence had come to a complete stop as the red beam was coming directly from it. Link looked at the Divine Beast for a moment, thinking about how just yesterday he and Prince Sidon had tackled that thing, before the Hylian Champion set foot inside and took control back from Calamity Ganon.

Link's chest began hurting as he thought about what he encountered once he had taken control back; Prince Sidon's older sister, Princess Mipha. Though more specifically, what Link saw was Mipha's spirit, telling him that she had been killed 100 years ago, and Link taking control back put her at ease. As the Zora Champion, Mipha alone could control Vah Ruta, and she transported Link away shortly after their century long reunion.

He realised that as he gazed upon the Divine Beast, Mipha was up there doing her best to help Link defeat Calamity Ganon. As his chest continued to hurt even more, Link placed his hand on chest and closed his eyes for a moment. Thinking about what he needed to do to make sure Mipha's death was not in vain, and to make sure Zelda did not meet the same fate. But as Link opened his eyes and looked at the armour that he was wearing, a small smile appeared on his face. The Zora Armor that he wore was apparently crafted by Princess Mipha herself, and he knew that wherever he was going, as long as he kept hold of it, Mipha would always be with him.

But still his chest continued to hurt. He knew Mipha; he had spoken to her in the past, he recognised her when her spirit appeared, and the statue of her in the centre of Zora's Domain made Link smile every time he saw it. But that was all Link could remember of her, he could barely remember anything about himself, Princess Zelda, or even Hyrule. Yet the pain he felt whenever he thought about Mipha was becoming more and more unbearable.

" _Mipha… was in love with Link. The proof is in the armour he wears, as you can see it fits him perfectly. The armour he wears is a tradition, given to men whom the princesses wish to marry."_

With Prince Sidon's words repeating in his head, Link looked at the Zora Armor once more, and he started to remember something from his past. Closing his eyes to concentrate, Link thought back to the time he first heard about the meaning behind the traditional armour.

-One Hundred Years Ago-

Link rested his arms on the railing of Luto's Crossing, looking down as he saw some Zoras heading towards the Bank of Wishes to cast their letters off. He let out a small chuckle; the Hylians didn't have anything like that in their culture, though their belief of the three Goddesses took its place. As he watched the red water dwellers climb up onto the bank, he heard someone to the left of him running.

"L-Link! I'm… I'm sorry I'm late!" Mipha called out as she ran towards the Hylian. Link pushed himself back as the princess stopped in front of him, grabbing her knees and panting as she keeled over. "My father insisted on talking to me, and then Sidon wished to ask me questions related to Zora customs, I couldn't say no."

Link tilted his head and smiled before he nodded, informing Mipha that her duties as Zora Princess took priority over them meeting up.

Mipha stood up straight as she caught her breath. "Thank you Link, it's nice of you to understand." She said with a smile before she looked towards the Bank of Wishes. "But your duties also take priority, not everyone gets to be the Princess' personal guard, it's quite the honour." She shook her head and turned her attention to Link. "But even so, I'm sorry for making you wait for me. A princess should be punctual; my brother doesn't seem to understand that just yet."

Link shook his head and waved his hands, telling her that there was no need for her to apologise anymore and that they should make their way to Zora's Domain as promised, which the princess agreed with and they set off straight away. As they walked up the path they talked about a variety of topics; about the other Champions and their races traditions, as well as how Zoras send love letters from the Bank of Wishes.

Mipha laughed as Link expressed his confusion over the timeless Zora tradition. "I cannot remember how that started, I think a Zora woman threw a love letter down there long ago and the person who found it turned out to be her soulmate. Since then people have believed that placing your heart's desire in a letter and casting it down there will bring you what you want." A small blush appeared on the princess' face as she looked away from the Hylian. "H-Hey Link, do you… do you know about the tradition of the White Scale?"

Link thought about it for a moment; he remembered Mipha's father saying something about a scale of some kind but he was drawing a blank. After a moment of trying Link gave up, telling Mipha that he was not familiar with it.

"Long ago a king fought in a battle, his wife made him some armour from her White Scale, and he ended up winning the battle for the Zoras, despite all odds being against him." She spoke, glancing up at Link and blushing as they made eye contact. "Since then it has become tradition for Zora princesses to forge armour out of their White Scale for the man they wish to wed; only female Zoras have that Scale after all." A smile grew on Mipha's face as they approached the long path leading to Zora's Domain. "It is funny, I've heard many tales of princesses having their husband chosen for them, but that has never been the case with Zoras. We have always been able to pick anyone we want, within reason of course."

Link nodded at her remarking, saying that he also knew about the stories of old and how the royal family were never allowed to fall in love naturally. He was glad that he wasn't a member of the royal family for that reason, while he had a huge role to play; he also expressed how much he loved the freedom of the world.

As the two spoke with one another, a small young Zora boy came running up to them. "Sister!" He said as he stood in front of them, looking up at Mipha. "Is this the Hylian Champion you keep going on about?"

A bright blush spread across Mipha's cheeks as she looked down at her brother. "S-Sidon, what have I told you about saying whatever you want? Link is my guest, please treat him with respect."

The young prince nodded before he turned to Link and smiled. "Hello Link! My sister says she wants to marry y-"

"That's enough out of you!" The princess interrupted, putting her hand over Sidon's mouth to stop him from saying anything else. "I'm sorry Link, could you head to Veiled Falls on your own, I need to take care of my brother."

While Link was confused at Mipha suddenly jumping to stop her brother, the blonde man nodded and began walking to Veiled Falls, which was a short walk to the West. As he walked through Zora's Domain he waved to some of the Zoras passing by, commenting on the lovely weather that they currently were experiencing, and asking many of them about their plans. After what seemed like an eternity of talking, Link finally made his way out of the city and towards Veiled Falls.

Link positioned his hand to keep the sun out of his eyes as he looked up at the waterfall. He had seen the young prince swimming up it as if it was nothing, and Mipha's swimming ability was just as good, if only because she was older. The idea of swimming through the water and travelling up waterfalls as a Zora had always appealed to Link, it was one of those things that he had wanted since he was just a small child.

As he looked up at the waterfall he heard Mipha's familiar voice from behind him. "It's a very beautiful place isn't it? There was a ceremony held here not too long ago, it's a shame you weren't here to see it." Link turned around and smiled at the princess, he had always loved the ceremonies that the Zoras performed, and he expressed his desire to see it when it was held again. "Sorry about my brother as well, he's very energetic and he always says the first thing on his mind. Still, he is very kind deep down, he just doesn't realise how special you are to me."

Small blushes appeared on both Link and Mipha's cheeks and the two stood in silence for a moment before Link spoke, asking her why she asked for him to come to Zora's Domain in the first place.

"W-Well, I…" Mipha placed her hand on her chest as she looked away from the Hylian, glancing at him occasionally as her blush only grew brighter. "I was hoping that you'd… Would you take your top and gloves off for me please Link?"

Link looked at her wide eyes, not fully expressing why she would request something like that. Knowing how uncomfortable asking something like that would be for the shy Zora, Link agreed and took his top and gloves off, saying he believed she had good intentions. Placing them on the lush greenery, he stood there in front of Mipha, curious about what else she wanted.

Mipha shut her eyes tight, making sure that Link didn't catch her staring at his toned body, and as she turned she stuttered. "C-C-Could you st-stand in the w-water please?" The Hylian agreed once more, walking back into the water at the base of the falls, and as he stopped the princess took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking at him. "Ummmm… I n-need you to… to close your eyes, and hold your arms out left to right..."

While he didn't quite understand what exactly Mipha was planning, Link followed her instructions all the same, closing his eyes and lifting his arms up to his side. As he stood there he heard Mipha's footsteps as she walked from the grass and into the water, and to Link's surprise the next thing that happened was feeling the Zora Princess' cold and wet hands touching his bare skin. Though he didn't know how Mipha was reacting to the touch, Link's cheeks grew red as his childhood friend was touching the top half of his body.

Though it seemed like an eternity for the both of them, after a couple of minutes Mipha took her hands off Link's body and stepped back a few paces. "Y-You can relax now." Hearing the shakiness in her voice, Link opened his eyes, placed his arms down and asked what it was she was doing. "I'm… I'm not meant to say, Zora tradition."

Link looked at her for a moment; while he wanted to know what it was all about he nevertheless nodded, agreeing that she should not break tradition for him. Stepping out of the water and picking his Champion's top back up, Link put the clothing back on, but as he reached down for his gloves Mipha grabbed his right arm, causing Link to look at her.

"No, it's OK… I asked for your presence here and made you do something without you knowing what or why." The Zora Princess looked up at Link and the two locked eyes for several moments, as he stared into her medallion yellow eyes, Mipha looked deeply into the Hylian's bright blue eyes. "I was… making sure that the measurements were accurate." Noticing the confusion in Link's expression, Mipha looked away as she blushed. "Well it's… You know the Zora tradition… involving the White Scale… Well we're not meant to tell until… until…"

Link looked at the princess and surprisingly he didn't know how to react. Not too long ago she had explained the tradition of the White Scale, and in that very moment she was implying that she was not meant to tell Link that she was going to carry on that tradition with him. A million things ran through Link's mind as he was trying to remain calm about the situation, and after several moments Mipha broke him out of his thoughts.

"I know that it's unusual for Zoras and Hylians to… to…" She looked back up at Link as she let go of his arm. "And… even if you don't accept it, I…" Mipha took a few steps back before she bowed her head. "I wish to give you the armour once Ganon has been taken care of!"

Stunned by her words and sudden forwardness, Link could do nothing but look at the Zora. As more thoughts came popping into his head, Link decided to take action, asking Mipha to raise her head and look at him. As she did, the Hylian cupped her cheek with his hand, smiled warmly at her, and told her that she had nothing to worry about as he would accept both the armour and the meaning behind it.

Mipha looked up at the Hylian and this time it was her that was at a loss for words, and as the two looked at each other Link closed his eyes and leaned forward. As his face got closer and closer to Mipha's own she closed her eyes too and the next thing either of them felt was their lips being planted together, locked in a passionate embrace as neither wanted to let the other one go, as the peaceful sounds of birds chirping and the waterfall behind them filled the air, creating the perfect romantic atmosphere.

After what seemed like forever the two pulled away from one another, and were left there standing barely inches apart, both with flushed faces. A warm smile appeared on Mipha's face as she looked up at the Hylian. "I'll make sure to start working on the armour today; it will be done in no time at all. I promise you Link, you'll receive the armour of a princess' future husband." Link nodded, saying that he was now more motivated than ever to take down Ganon, something which caused Mipha to giggle. Pausing for a brief moment the Zora reached up and touched Link on his cheek and smiled. "So… what shall we do now?"

With one arm Link reached up and placed his hand over hers while his other arm wrapped around Mipha's waist, and as he brought her closer to him the two shared another passionate embrace, one of many that they would have in their life together.

-Present Day-

Link's eyes suddenly sprung open as he remembered everything; from the feeling of droplets of water from Veiled Falls hitting his bare skin to the feeling of Mipha's lips pressed against his own. He reached up and touched his lips as he looked at Vah Ruta, hoping that Mipha knew until the very end how much he cared for her.

Lost in his own thoughts, Link didn't hear the footsteps as the Zora Prince ran towards the Hylian. "Link! Thank goodness I was able to catch up to you, I forgot to ask you something and thought it was best to come see if I could ask you now." Sidon said as he stood next to Link, and following the Champion's line of sight he looked over towards Vah Ruta. "Mipha is up there right now, I can feel her watching over me. I believe it is because of her that you were brought here in our time of need." Crossing his arms together, the Zora Prince closed his eyes and smiled. "While I do wish I could see her one last time, I know that she has a much bigger purpose to fulfil, and when that time comes it will be the pride of all Zoras." Opening his eyes, the giant Zora flexed his left arm as a hearty smile appeared on his face. "I believe in you Sister, I know you will do us all proud!"

As the Hylian closed his eyes he laughed to himself, Sidon had always been incredibly optimistic even when he was a young Zora, and Link wished that Mipha knew that her doubts about if Sidon was capable to lead Zora's Domain could be cast aside.

"Oh right, I forgot to ask!" The prince said as he placed his arms to the side. "You accepted the armour off us so you could take back Vah Ruta, but do you remember if you accepted it back when Mipha was still alive?" As Sidon looked down at Link he jumped back slightly. "Link! Are you OK?!"

A few tears rolled down Link's cheeks as his eyes remained closed, yet the smile never left Link's face. While it would have benefitting his journey had he not known, he was glad that he remembered how deeply he cared Mipha, and that despite it not coming directly from her, she had kept her promise from one hundred years ago as he did receive the armour she made for him.

Link opened his eyes and looked up at Prince Sidon, and as he looked at the Zora he answered his question; when Mipha was alive he knew exactly what the armour meant, that he happily accepted it, and that even one hundred years later, he still loved Mipha.


End file.
